Drabbling in the Life
by Malyificient
Summary: Life never turns out the way it should. A series of unrelated One-shots and Drabbles.


Helga G. Pataki was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Tough, sometimes cruel, and always sarcastic…these traits had left her with a reputation that made freshmen cower in fear when they caught a glimpse of her. And she loved every second of it. She looked forward, every day, to watching the little runts scurry out of her path, terror in their eyes. Until, one day, she found something better. And the joy of watching the grunions scurry away paled in comparison to... _him._ Not that she had actually every seen the man. But they had a connection. He was an internet friend, found on a forum for poetry, and they had clicked. For the first time since her childhood (since Arnold had put the brakes on any form of relationship between them – let what they had founded in their youth just shrivel up and die), her heart pounded and she got butterflies when she thought of him, and it was... _wonderful._

Her days were long as she waited to hear from him, but the moment a message from him would come through, it was like the sunshine beat down on only her, as all the clouds parted and birds sang and life was _good._

The freshman weren't the only ones to notice the change in the She-Devil of Hillwood High. Former childhood friends noticed too. Rhonda and Nadine saw it almost immediately, and they cornered her as soon as they could, trying to find out just what was going on. They didn't get much.

Sheena and Lila tried next, asking in polite ways that ended up asking about Helga's life in general, versus finding out what was going on within the last several weeks. And got little more from her than the other two. So, the four girls went to the closest thing to the source; Phoebe Heyerdahl. Unfortunately, Phoebe didn't know much either. Just that Helga had met someone online. And this was the point that caught Arnold's attention. Because they had all seen the crime shows. Girl meets boy online. Girl gets abducted and killed. And he decided it was time to step in. But getting close to her was...difficult. Helga had never been one for flights of fancy, but this guy had done something to encourage exactly that. She altered her class routes, as well as her walk home. She'd slip away in crowds and get lost in the flow of street life. It was sort of terrifying at how easily she would vanish from his sight. So, he took to slightly more drastic measures. He'd reach out and brush against her when he could, just to confirm that she was still there. Helga never seemed to notice.

"Helga?" His voice was soft, but it still caught her attention. She looked up from her notebook and met his gaze, blue eyes questioning because Arnold didn't speak to her. Not unless forced to. But here he was, whispering to her in class like they were kids again. Well, not exactly. But still. The thought was there. She glanced up at the front of the room, where the teacher was kicked back at his desk, feet resting on the corner, head resting on the back of the chair, asleep, while the television droned on about the USSR. She put her pencil down and turned back to Hillwood's Golden Boy.

"What's up Arnold?"

The use of his first name startled him. She could see it on his face. His eyes widened slightly, and his lips parted slightly as a small crease formed between his eyebrows. Then he seemed to shake himself and get on with what he wanted to suddenly talk to her about.

"I..." He glanced up at the teacher as well, who let out a hearty snore, before meeting her eyes again, determination flaring. Helga blinked at him.

"Can we talk? After school? I'll meet you at your locker and we can hit the park."

She felt the frown before she realized it was there. Ed was supposed to call today...but not until about eight. She'd have time. So, with a half smile, she nodded. Which seemed to surprise the young man next to her once again, because his mouth opened just that little bit again, before he nodded and turned back to the front of the room, focus back on his notebook. With one final confused look towards him, she turned back to her own desk, just missing the light dusting of pink that decorated Arnold's cheeks.

Arnold appeared by Helga's side at 2:30 exactly and, had she not been expecting him, he probably would have made her jump. Even so, she was still startled when he started speaking over her shoulder. She jumped, her hand flying up to her chest as she spun around to meet him.

"Jeeze, Arnold! Scare the crap out of me, why don't you?"

Arnold himself took a step back, holding his hands up in a form of surrender as he smiled sheepishly.

"Thought you heard me. Sorry," he slowly put his hands in his pockets as he leaned on the locker next to hers, still smiling softly. Rolling her eyes, the blonde heiress went back to putting her books in her bag and locker, grumbling under her breath the entire time. He rolled so that his back was against the cool metal, chuckling at her. When she huffed and glared at him, his chuckling grew to smothered laughter.

"Thought you were going to hit me. Like when we were younger."

She huffed out a rough laugh as she slammed the tiny door shut and crossed her arms over her chest after gesturing him to lead the way. He kept his pace slow so that they could walk side by side through the hallways, not saying anything quite yet, and led her to the ancient green Packard that could have been a staple of the community. How the owners of the boarding house had kept the thing in running condition was beyond her, but it still started up smooth and purred like a kitten. It was...impressive. Helga said as much. Arnold responded that it took quite a bit of time, effort, and so much junkyard digging. Ridiculous amounts of junkyard digging. And the mental image of Arnold digging through a junkyard for old Packard parts in nothing but ratty jeans and a white tank top made her mouth dry for a few minutes. Shaking her head, she glanced at her phone, and smiled at a message from Ed. Typing out her response, she let the conversation between herself and Arnold die until the Packard was parked in the parking lot of the park. Tossing her phone on the seat of the ancient car, Helga stretched as she exited the vehicle. When she turned to face Arnold to find out why he had wanted the seclusion to simply talk, she found him staring at her in a strange way, his face carefully blank but his eyes...his eyes were intense. There was something in them too, something that she was hesitant to identify. Instead, she turned back towards the park, blue eyes looking at the scenery and the people playing there before dinner. Arnold appeared next to her, his gaze on the horizon for a moment before glancing back at her, gesturing to the path in front of them. They began, a gentle meander through the park in silence. It took Arnold some time to figure out exactly what he was going to say, but it didn't come out the way he wanted it to. He had wanted to warn her of the online dangers; of the men who would prey upon pretty girls like herself. Instead, he only asked if she were happy with whom she had found. And told her to be careful, and that he was always there for her, if she needed someone. She had smiled and gently punched his shoulder, asking when he got interested in the local grape vine of rumors, but assured him that she was fine. That she could take care of herself.

He grinned and rubbed at his shoulder, swallowing the unease in his stomach. Helga deserved to be happy. He just wished he knew why he was feeling so uneasy about the whole situation.


End file.
